Producing hydrogen gas in an experiment
Our AS chemistry students were recently treated to an exciting series of demonstrations during their lessons. The demonstrations involved small scale explosions and bangs which were guaranteed to be met with enthusiasm!
AS chemistry student Daniel Morris explains; “Having finished studying the reacting masses topic in AS chemistry, our class embarked on two experiments. The first involved the complete combustion of methane with oxygen in a 500ml bottle; the combustion was very explosive, sending the bottle flying through the air with a burning exhaust as the remaining gas was burnt.
The second of the two experiments had to be taken outside, where a two litre bottle was used to contain aluminium foil and hydrochloric acid, which reacted and produced hydrogen gas. With the ever increasing pressure within the bottle due to the build-up of hydrogen gas, the bottle quickly reached its maximum capacity and soon exploded, causing quite a loud bang! All in all a great first term studying AS chemistry.”
